Local officials initially reported that 46 people were killed in the 18-wheeler, which was discovered Monday night on a rural road southeast of the city by a nearby worker. However, the death toll rose to 50 by Tuesday morning, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed. Local officials said 16 people, including four children, were taken to nearby hospitals on Monday night with signs of heatstroke and exhaustion. The trailer where the bodies were found was equipped with air conditioning, although it did not appear to be working, officials said. Texas has experienced a record heat wave and temperatures soared above 38 degrees Celsius (100 F) in San Antonio on Monday. “This is nothing short of a horrific human tragedy,” San Antonio Mayor Ron Nuremberg told a news conference. Three people believed to be part of the human trafficking conspiracy have been arrested, an ICE spokesman said. Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has accused President Joe Biden, whom he has long accused of pursuing an “open border” policy. “These deaths are for Biden. It is the result of his deadly policies on open borders. “They are showing the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law,” he wrote on Twitter on Monday night. In a statement, Biden called the incident “frightening and heartbreaking” and said he emphasized the need to “pursue the multibillion-dollar criminal industry that plunders immigrants and leads to many innocent deaths.” The Biden administration has resisted calls for a easing of Trump-era border policies as it ties the knot. On the one hand, he is criticized by activists who denounce politics as inhumane, while on the other, Republicans are willing to label the president and his party as easy to smuggle. Biden’s secretary of state, Karin Jean-Pierre, has denied Republicans’ claims that President Biden had an “open border” policy that was to blame for the deaths. “The fact is that the borders are closed, and that is partly why you see people trying to make this dangerous journey using smuggling networks,” he said. Abbott has put the suppression of illegal immigration in Texas at the heart of his re-election campaign in the run-up to the November election, developing state resources and border police as part of Operation Lone Star. Immigration levels in Texas have risen since the coronavirus pandemic, and state officials say they expect the number to continue to rise this year. The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reported a record number of border arrests in May. Beto O’Rourke, Abbott’s Democratic challenger and former presidential candidate, called the deaths “catastrophic.”

“We need urgent action – dismantling human trafficking networks and replacing them with widened avenues for legal immigration that reflect our values ​​and meet the needs of our country,” he said. The Supreme Court is likely to rule this week on whether or not the Biden administration may reject Trump-era “Stay in Mexico” policy, which required asylum seekers to be detained or stay in Mexico while on trial. their cases. can often last for years. The decision will sharpen the debate on immigration policy as the by-elections approach. The deaths are the latest in a series of cases in recent years that have seen large groups of immigrants die while being smuggled into the US, often in large trucks or trucks in the summer heat. In July 2017, 10 people were found dead in a trailer at a Walmart car park in San Antonio.